


The One Where a Bunch of Clones get Adopted by a Dragon

by QuimeraTheTraveller



Series: The Duckyverse, I guess [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Animal Fluff, Brotherly Bonding, Brotherly Love, Dragon feels, Dragons, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Infection, Injury, Non-binary dragon, Protectiveness, clone feels, is that a thing?, now it is, trans clone, yeah my dudes i am doing this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 20:36:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18239900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuimeraTheTraveller/pseuds/QuimeraTheTraveller
Summary: What the title says





	The One Where a Bunch of Clones get Adopted by a Dragon

_A powerful beast took flight when the night blanketed the land it inhabited, its instincts telling it that its nest would be safe while it hunted. And what reasons were there to doubt? What could had possibly warned it that the metal, buzzing beasts that had been flying over its territory but not taking any food would had dropped hundreds, thousands of their tinier, metal, ground-bound spawn?_

_Its nest was on an advantage point, of course: high on a wide plateau, with the perfect view of its hunting grounds, above everything else; where the top of the food chain was supposed to be._

_So it left its nest, and it wasn’t there when the droids marched onto it, immediately shooting at the three eggs huddled together, the broken shells cracking under their feet as they set to set up camp and anti-aerial cannons._

 

War was nothing like what they had been taught back at Kamino.

Well, it was. At least the part where they had done their best to desensitise them. To make them accept the death of their squadmates before it happened.

But the rest of it? Bull. There was no impeccable plan that would lead them to the completion of the mission. They rarely had the equipment necessary to get to their objective in the swiftest way. There was no glorious victory, and no honourable death.

Zero ducked back into the bushes, breathing heavily and exchanging glances with his squad. The assault had begun at midnight: a rushed operation in a futile attempt to eliminate the droids before they could set up their cannons.

Too late.

After hours and hours of crossfire, nobody had managed to get to the plateau on foot, and the cannons shot down any aircraft that tried to bomb them. It was up to the ground-troops, then, who had been dropped out of the cannons range, to take over the high-ground. As dawn broke, though, it became clear that going head-on was only going to cause unnecessary casualties. That’s why Zero’s squad had been sent to circle the plateau and create a distraction so the heavy guns could advance.

“We’re all gone to die”, Bee breathed.

“Sh! You are going to jinx us!”, Tip hissed.

“That’s the whole point! If I say we are going to die and I jinx it, we won’t!”

“That’s... not how it works...”, Sal shook her head.

“Heads on the game, people!”, Zero growled.

Everybody snapped to attention, muscles tensed and ready for what had to be done.

“We have to be a real bother for some time, so no running wild! I am talking to you, Sal!”

“Aw...”, the clone shook her head mockingly.

“Find some decent cover and shoot, move and repeat! Let’s make them think they have a whole battalion coming from behind!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”, the other three echoed.

They nodded slightly at each other before scattering.

It when bad pretty quickly.

The sun was lazily raising on the sky when an enemy airstrike swept in, blowing up a great part of the remaining main force. The order was broadcasted to all troopers:

“We don’t have enough men to take over the post! We are retreating! I repeat! Full retreat! All troopers back-off for immediate evac!”

“You heard it, guys! Rendezvous!”, Zero yelled to his squad, shooting down a couple droids that were getting too close for comfort with precise shots.

“I am retreating!”, Sal was the first to answer. “Running to the bushes, sir!”

“I’m coming too!”, Tip chirped.

“Guys! I-I can’t! I’m pinned!”, Bee’s reply froze their blood.

There was a second of deep silence before Zero could take in and process all the facts and react.

“Where are you, trooper? We are coming to assist!”, he looked around wildly, and saw Sal do the same in the distance.

A harsh breath was heard on the other side of the comm, as if Bee were trying to steady his voice.

“Go to the evac point”, he said, voice just wavering a little.

“NO!”, Tip yelled.

“They are leaving you have to go!”, he yelled back.

Zero took a steadying breath and changed the channel.

“What’s the status on the evac?”, he asked hastily.

“Only two shuttles left, sir! You have to come, NOW!”

The world faded away around Zero, only able to hear his heartbeat and feel the headache creeping in, crawling deeper and deeper inside his brain, whispering his only two options:

_Abandon your man and save the others, or stay here and die together._

Lucky of him, that decision had been made collectively a long time ago, when they had had their first casualty.

“Leave!”, was his answer to the pilot.

“Sir, I can wait some minutes more, maybe—”

“We won’t get there in time! LEAVE!”, was his final order before switching channels again. “Bee! We’re coming for you! Tell us your location!”

“I’m—AUGH!”

“I see him!”, Tip shouted, “This way!”

A blue bolt shot upwards, towards the sky, marking his position. Zero ran to wider cover, where maybe he could loose the droids that were after him. Soon, he saw Sal running ahead of him. They skidded behind a rock to join Tip, who was positioned with his weapon resting on top of it, laying cover fire for Bee. The trooper was half-slumped against the smouldering tree that had been his cover, now being shot away by the SB droids closing on him. Zero studied the situation, gulping. They were only a few meters apart, but that distance was devoid of any kind of shelter, and Bee seemed to have taken a shot to the shoulder. If he tried to run to them, he would be shot down.

“Okay, people, listen up!”, he spoke with a confidence that he didn’t feel, “We are going to lay cover fire, okay? Bee, when I say so, you run to us, got it?”

“Yessir”, he hissed.

“Alright. Let’s do this!”

 

Up above, the beast’s eyes widened at the streak of light that shot up, coming from near its nest. Its ears flickered, catching on the sound of something unknown, but surely dangerous. Its lips curled back, razor-sharp teeth showing, and it dived through the clouds.

 

A blur of white streaked past the last shuttle, making the pilot swear and jerk away in a useless manoeuvre, since in second thought it looked like whatever it was, it was not interested in them. He couldn’t help but turn around and try to look at it, but scolded himself for it: they were still in range of the cannons and he was in charge of getting his passengers out. He hoped that, whatever it was, it would get shot down in their place.

 

There was no way that they could take out enough droids for Bee to run to them.

The thought dawned on Zero suddenly, as if he hadn’t known from the start. They were going to die there, but at least they would go out together, not taken apart one at a time like happened to so many other squads. He was ready to let go: to abandon his role as a leader and let the pent up rage and frustration take over and finally, finally, be able to scream at the top of his lungs...

A deafening roar tore the skies.

The plateau was set on flames, its bushes and scattered patches of grass smoking heavily. Something moved among the smokescreen, roars of rage mixed with the sound of crushing metal.

“Now, Bee!”, Zero finally reacted, noticing that the droids were distracted by the commotion too. “RUN!!!”

The trooper looked at him, wide eyed, and braced himself before starting the run for his life.

Three quarters of the Super Battle Droid force turned around to head for the plateau, but from the other quart, one turned around to face them. And another. And another.

Sal, Tip and Zero were doing their best to shot them down as they did.

But it wouldn’t be enough. It would never be enough—

Something shot up from the thick black smoke. No clone paid it any mind, but it did paid mind to them. With a flap of its wings, it angled itself to dive towards them, body waving slightly as it opened its maws in a ground-shaking screech.

Time seemed to still. Zero reached out for Bee, who didn’t dare turn around. Sal and Tip were staring wide eyed at the white beast coming their way, though that didn’t stop them from keep shooting at the bunch of droids that weren’t turning to face the new threat. Bee flinched in pain, tripped and fell to the floor.

A SB droid was snapped in three by the beast jaws. It planted its front paws on the ground, letting the rest of its body swerve. Its long tail swept off the floor the vast majority of them, and the clones were fast to pick up the others while the creature breathed fire on the ones that were trying to get up, creating a wall of flames between them and the plateau.

“Holy kriff!”, Sal muttered.

The creature growled at something past the fire before abandoning its hostile posture. First it turned its head, and its body followed when it started walking  towards Bee, head dipped low, almost brushing the rocky ground.

“HEY!”, Zero yelled “Get away from him!!!

It stopped for a second to look at him, ears flickering at the sound of his voice and nostrils flaring, before taking a slower step towards the downed trooper, its eyes on Zero. He growled, raising his blaster and aiming for its head.

A hand pressed the weapon down.

“Don’t”, Tip breathed, “Its not attacking, so let’s not give it any reasons to, okay? Bee! You alright over there? Don’t do any sudden movements, we’re coming!”

“Ohmygoditsgoingtoeathim!”, Sal was trembling, her blaster raised but useless in her state.

Tip walked over her slowly.

“Calm down, calm down”, he whispered, pushing her gun down too. “Let’s only react if it gets hostile, okay? I’m gonna go and try to get to Bee. You stay put and shoot ONLY if it’s about to chew my head off.”

She nodded nervously, gulping to try and put herself together.

The creature was a mere meter away from Bee, head still low. Its heavily clawed paws were relaxed, its four wings were tucked around its back and its tail swung behind it in a slow rhythm, raising some dust. It seemed more interested in sniffing Bee than gutting him. Tip took a long, slow step towards them. Its ears flickered to point at him, and its eyes followed. It rose its head, and its jaws opened a fraction...

It cawed.

A short, questioning caw.

“That’s right”, Tip said, not really knowing why, “We don’t have to fight, do we? We are not your food, and you are not our predator.”

It dipped its head again, snout pushing slightly against Bee’s back, a softer caw coming from between its teeth, followed by a purr.

Bee moaned where he lay.

“I’m coming, Bee. Stay still”, he took a step, and another, and another, until he was right next to them. He hold his breath, waiting for some kind of reaction, still expecting to have to duck away from a fang or a claw.

The beast looked at him, and slowly, it pressed slightly to his chest with its nose, before it took a step away and sat down.

“Alright. Alright”, Tip mused, and kneeled next to his brother. “Hey, Bee. You with us?”

“Yeah...”, he rasped. “What...?”

“We missed evac. But looks like we made a friend”, he smirked, turning him onto his back, the creature coming into his line of sight.

“Kriff...!”, he gasped.

“It’s okay. It hasn’t tried to eat us yet, so I guess we are cool”, the medic chuckled softly, stripping Bee of his armour and carefully peeling away the upper part of his blacks.

The beast cawed again, a puzzled sound accompanied with a tilt of its massive head.

Tip slowed his movements, staying still when it leaned forward to sniff at them. It leaned back after a moment with a more confident caw. It turned its head, staring at Sal and Zero, who were still aiming at it.

“I’d say it’s safe, guys”, Tip chirped, not pausing at cleaning the bleeding wound on Bee’s shoulder. “Try to let it sniff you, it might be code for ‘we can hang out’”

Sal took a deep breath and lowered her blaster, taking careful steps forward. The white creature dipped its head again when she got close, and like the other two, pressed its snout against her. She dared to raise a hand and stroke softly the tiny feathers between its ears, which earned her a soft purr.

An incredulous laugh escaped her lips.

“Hey, Zero, check this out! I think it really likes us!”

Zero did not lower his gun completely, but he walked over them and received the same treatment. Sal encouraged him to pet it too. He patted its snout, and it huffed warm air at his feet.

“Alright”, he sighed, relieved. “Alright”, but still clung to his blaster.

They all stood like that for a long moment. Sal went to crouch at Bee’s other side, taking his hand and chatting with him to keep him distracted. Zero stood guard, though a wall of flames was keeping whatever was on the plateau at bay.

The creature was staring at it, tail suddenly laying still before it got up on its four paws. The claws of one of its front legs dug into the earth, and it throw it to the flames. Where it fall, the fire died down, opening a narrow path.

It slipped through it.

“Where is it going?”, Sal asked.

Zero had raised his blaster again, unnerved by the droids being able to reach them.

“I don’t know. I’m going to check. Sal, you are in charge, take care of them.”

“Yessir”, she nodded, standing up.

Zero ran through the path, getting away from the flames as quick as possible. At the other side, half molten droids littered the floor, some of them still functioning but unable to move due to fused joints. The beast was climbing up its way to the top of the plateau, anxious caws leaving its jaws. He followed in silence, shooting at any droid that he thought may get up again. The climb was a little bit harder for him, but he got there in a few minutes.

It was... astonishing.

The first thing he saw was the shredded cannons. The animal’s teeth had been able to pierce them and bend its parts. Claw marks could be seen on any metal surface, even on the floor, where the smaller droids had been chomped, clawed, burned or smashed to pieces.

Near the centre of the plateau, the beast was hunched over, ears and wings limp as it released low, intermittent caws. Zero walked nearer, making sure that he came into its sight. Last thing he wanted was to die smashed by a startled animal. It did not react to his presence. He followed its gaze, and froze.

A collection of branches and dried weeds gave the first hint that he was looking at a nest. Well, what had been a nest. The eggs had obviously been destroyed, the shells scattered here and there. And still, among the wreckage of it all, three not-fully-formed bodies.

“Oh, Force...”, he muttered.

It kept cawing weakly at the three dead chicks, occasionally pushing its snout against their tiny bodies.

But they were never going to caw back.

Maybe it was the adrenaline wearing off, the emotional charge of the day or the PTSD clawing at him, but Zero sobbed at the scene. His shoulders shook and he let his arms go limp at his sides.

Slowly, the creature lifted its head, ears flickering to point at him. He was still staring at the corpses, picturing the droids shooting at their defenceless eggs mercilessly. It pushed its head against him with enough force to make him take a couple steps back.

“What...?”, he croaked.

It nudged him further away from the nest, and he complied, glancing at it. Maybe its instincts were awakening. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to be near its nest, even if there was nothing left to protect. It made a sound at him, not quite a growl, but it had a feel of: “stay back”. Then it turned away from him, back towards the nest, and took a deep breath.

The nest was set on fire, and they both watched it burn with heavy hearts. Zero didn’t quite understand why it did this, but he also couldn’t think of a reason as to why not do it. The creature ears flickered upright and it straightened, standing tall on its two back paws, completely still for a handful of seconds. Its lips curled back and it growled lowly before dropping to all fours and nudging Zero again, towards where his brothers and sister awaited.

He resisted a bit at first, but figured out that there was no point in staying there. The enemy camp was destroyed, and if they came back, four clones wouldn’t be enough to hold off the battalions that would be coming. He patted its head and walked away.

It followed him all the way down. Bee was sitting up, shoulder roughly bandaged and arm held in an improvised cast by a shred of his blacks. Sal was behind him, allowing him to lean on her while Tip dove inside his backpack, fishing out a water-pack. The three of them watched them come closer through the now almost extinguished fire wall. When Zero came to a halt, so did the creature.

“So...?”, Sal broke the silence.

“...It was about to be a parent. Three unborn chicks. Its nest was on the plateau, that’s why it attacked the droids.”

“Oh”, Tip breathed, staring at it with sorrow.

“Why is it still here, then?”, Sal wondered, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, there is no reason for it to stay, right?”

They stared at it. The creature stared back. It was standing at attention, tail swishing slowly behind it. It surely seemed relaxed around them. Zero noticed that none of them had been pointing their blasters at it since they had went to the Separatist’s post. And he felt no need to do so.

“Honestly?”, Tip begun, “We are stranded on an alien planet. I’m not gonna complain if one of its top predators wants to hang out with us. Might save us trouble with smaller carnivores.”

“That if it follows us”, Zero mumbled.

“They will”, Bee rasped, reaching out for the creature. It saw him and lowered its head so he could pet it. “’M gonna name them, okay?”

“Bee, we are not keeping it”, Sal scolded him slightly.

“No”, he chuckled weakly, “Cabur is keeping US.”

He closed his eyes and passed out.

Cabur cawed in alarm and pressed against his chest, visibly relaxing when they felt his heartbeat.

“We should find a safer place. Some cover, at the very least”, Tip suggested.

“Agreed”, Zero nodded. “Let’s put some distance between us and the plateau, for now. We don’t know if the clankers were about to receive reinforcements. Sal?”

“I got this”, she nodded.

Tip sprung into action too, helping her get Bee on a piggyback ride.

Cabur watched them attentively, leaning to sniff Sal and Bee.

“It’s okay, big guy. It’s still us”, she chuckled.

They squeaked briefly before withdrawing.

“Alright. Let’s get moving”, Zero said, taking the lead.

Sal followed, and Tip went right behind her.

“Moment of truth, everybody”, he said out loud, head slightly turned. The other two couldn’t help it and turned around to look, too.

Cabur was following them.

 

They walked aimlessly for a few hours, until the predator made a guttural sound at them and turned another way, stomping at the ground until they made to follow them. In a few minutes, Cabur had led them to a crystal clear stream that came from an almost vertical cliff.

“Alright. We’ll rest here”, Zero nodded, and Sal sighed with relief.

She set Bee down on some fluffy looking grass and took off her helmet, taking a deep breath. Tip took off his backpack and did the same. Zero was more adamant to do so.

“Come on, sir. Cabur here has our backs”, he nudged him slightly.

“Oh, no, you have fallen too”, Sal deadpanned.

“What?”

“You have used The Name! Which means Bee is winning and we are keeping them!”

“Keeping _them_ ”, the medic echoed with a shit-eating grin.

“I have fallen too!”, she threw her hand into the air, going to sit by the stream.

Zero laughed, and was forced to remove his helmet to do so comfortably.

Tip and Sal exchanged a glance and a quick smile before they got back to their demeanours. He went to check Bee’s vitals while she tasted the water.

Cabur walked lazily to her and gulped down litres and litres, so Sal figured that it wouldn’t hurt them either. It did feel refreshing.

Zero walked over to Tip and Bee.

“How is he?”

“Lost some blood, but nothing’s broken. It will heal well as long as infection doesn’t set in”, he reported, allowing himself to lay down for a moment with a pained sigh.

“Are you hurt?”, Zero tensed.

“Nah, boss, just the usual contractures, y’know?”

“Yeah...”, he muttered. He was torn between laying down himself or... Doing whatever needed to be done. Collect water, search for food, form a perimeter...

“Lay down, sir”, Tip said from the floor.

He turned sharply to look at him. None of them said anything for a moment, so Tip cleared his throat.

“Allow me to rephrase that: as your medic, I order you to lay down and rest, sir.”

“I can’t do that”, he replied automatically.

“SAL!!!”, the other yelled, startling Cabur. “You are on guard duty, you hear?!”

“You mean Cabur is on guard duty, right?!”, she yelled back.

“Whatever! If something eats us it’s on you!”, Sal huffed in the distance, but didn’t add anything else. “See, sir? Everything is taken care of”, he smiled cockily, patting the patch of grass next to him.

Zero sighed and finally, finally, allowed himself to sit down.

Cabur walked over to them and cawed.

“What?”, Tip asked.

They huffed and shook their head, as if dusting off.

“We are okay over here. Just resting.”

They blinked at him, and turned to stare at Zero.

“No, he doesn’t know how to rest”, Tip smirked.

Zero glared at him, but said nothing.

Cabur yawned, their massive teeth at display for an horrifying moment, and stretched out their legs and wings before looking around and finally curling down near the tree line, head raised and ears erected: resting but keeping watch.

Sal sat down heavily next to them, handing them a refilled water-pack.

“So”, she said. “What are our plans?”

A heavy silence settled among them. Zero sighed tiredly.

“At short-term, survive. At long-term...”

“We have no contact off-world at the moment. Our only chance is to wait for the Republic to regroup and rendezvous with whatever force gets sent down here”, Tip mumbled.

“How long could it be? A few days? Week and a half tops?”, Sal guessed. “If we are still to take on that plateau, we should stay around. It’s our best guess to be picked up.”

“That’s mostly it, then”, Zero nodded. “We find a decent shelter, gather whatever we need to hold on and keep an eye on our comms. until something happens... or a rescue party comes.”

“Unlikely”, Sal deadpanned immediately.

Tip kicked her softly from the floor.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, my foot slipped.”

“Yeah, right.”

 

Night came, and Cabur woke up from their nap. They stood and checked that their companions were still around. Their smells and sounds were very alike, but they were still able to tell them apart. There was the one that smelled like poisons despite not having anything to inject them with, the one whose voice wavered in a way that the others’ didn’t, the one who was alert and tense all the time and the one who was weak. They walked over to the last one. Next to him, the one that smelled like poison -Tip, was the sound that was made before he turned to look at the source- got up, observing them. Cabur went to sniff at Bee’s injury, but Tip pushed their snout away.

“No”, he said, “Let him be.”

Bee chuckled under them.

“Aw, they want to cuddle. Let them come.”

“No offense, vod, but we don’t know where Cabur has been putting their nose. The last thing we want is whatever bacteria they are carrying getting inside you.”

Cabur tried again, this time their slim tongue stuck out a bit.

“Oh, no no no no no no no!”, Tip pushed them away harder. “None of that! No licking!”

“Aw, Tip... They just want to kiss me...”

“Yeah, what if they like your taste, huh?”

“Cabur would never do that...”

“Yeah, because we have known them for half a day already! How dare I doubt their intentions!”

They cawed in irritation, but Cabur turned around and left them alone. They saw a faint light move somewhere beyond the tree-line, the light that had come out of the always-alert-one’s head. At the opposite side of the clearing there was another, which was probably from wavy-voice.

They were well, they were keeping watch. Good.

Cabur stood on two legs and cawed to get everyone’s attention, and when they did, they shut up, stomped at the ground with their front paws and flied out.

“They know we can’t follow them, right?”, Sal piped up.

Zero groaned softly, shaking his head. “Resume patrol and stay alert!”, he yelled back before turning to the vegetation.

 

_Cabur flapped their four wings, their body waving through the chilly night air. Their white feathers kept their body-warmth well tucked around them. Oxygen rich air entered through the nostrils on their head and came out rich in carbon dioxide and warm through the nostrils hidden under their wing’s articulations, helping them to maintain altitude without needing to flap their wings too often. Their pointy ears were pointing backwards, protected from the whistling wind, their tail straightened out behind them and legs tucked against their fluffy belly._

_Their pupils dilated, feeling a kind of thrill at the concept of not hunting only for themselves, but to feed their charges. Yes, charges. That’s what they were. They were tiny, and strange, and one of them was injured, so Cabur would protect them until they grew their claws out, at the very least._

_They watched the land below them, their eyes perfected to catch on the movement of shadows projected by the twin moons that shone up in the sky. Cabur still flew away from where they had set up camp, past a mountain chain and turning north, following a river. Soon, a lake came into view: one of their usual hunting grounds. Lots of herbivores were nomads, and they used to stop by it regularly. Night was not the best time to hunt, but it was a reassurance that their charges would probably not be hunt, either. So they flew over the mountains, watching attentively the lake’s shore._

_It was a lucky night: a quadrupedal figure emerged from the cover that the forest provided, followed by a smaller figure. Cabur flapped their wings, angling themselves yet waiting for their pray to walk further away from the woods._

_One flap._

_Two flaps._

_Three flaps._

_Four._

_Dive._

_It was a silent, deadly fall. Cabur tucked their wings close, speeding like a bullet, and opened them again only to slow themselves down enough to make a slight curve and be parallel to the ground for a second, before performing a second dive with jaws wide open._

_They bit down ruthlessly at the biggest figure and stomped down the smaller one with their back legs. Their preys cried out in agony. Cabur bit down harder, bones snapping between their teeth, and the adult prey finally stopped moving. The one trapped under their claws still screamed and tried to squirm away to no avail: it was only succeeding in getting cut. Without a second thought, the predator reached out and bit down at its head._

_And the night was still again._

 

“Holy KRIFF!!!”, Sal shrieked, waking up Tip in the process.

The medic startled awake, suddenly aware that the ground had shook right before his sister screamed.

“What’s going on?”, he asked, standing on wobbly legs. “Are you hurt?”, he stumbled towards her, her back facing him, and only when he got by her side, resting a hand on her shoulder to turn her and check for injury, he saw the mangled body in front of her.

Then Cabur dropped from the sky in front of them, cawing through the corpse that they were carrying between their teeth. Zero returned from his third patrol in a row just as they settled the second, bigger prey on the floor. They all stared at it in silence for a long moment.

“So. It brought us dinner!”, Sal was the first to get over the shock and took out a small vibroblade, reaching for the adult... Whatever it was. But Cabur bit at its leg and dragged it away from her.

“Hey!”, she yelped, but they were already biting a leg off, bones crushing as they pulled and tore.

The clones stilled again.

“Okay everybody turn around, we do not need to see this.”

“One of your trademark _tips_?”, Sal cackled, but obeyed instantly.

Tip pulled at Zero’s arm just to make sure that he did, too.

“Guess we get the small one”, she shrugged, and walked over to it.

“Go back to sleep, Tip”, Zero mused. “I’ll go...”

“No, sir. It’s your turn to rest”, his voice was soft, but he was keeping a tight grip on his arm.

“You need it more. You are our medic, we...”

“And you are our commanding officer, sir”, Tip almost growled, “And you haven’t slept since way before we landed YESTERDAY. So go. Lie. Down.”

They held their gazes for a few awkward seconds before Zero finally sighed tiredly.

“Alright”, he mumbled. “Alright”, and allowed himself to be led to where Bee was resting.

“Grounded, sir?”, he smirked when he saw them come over.

“Very funny”, he grumbled, dropping beside him.

Zero took of his helmet and rolled his shoulders, contemplating the idea of removing his upper armour for more comfort.

“It will be alright, sir”, Tip added, offering a small smile. “Besides, now that Cabur is back, they’ll keep watch. Am I right, fella?”, he turned to them for the last part, but the subject in question was nose-deep inside the other animal’s guts. “Anyways. I’ll be over there helping Sal with the meat.”

And he left them to rest.

Zero finally decided on removing his chestplate and laid down, releasing a pained sigh.

“How’s the burn?”, he asked after a few moments.

“It itches a bit, but it’s not something that I haven’t felt before”, Bee replied dismissively.

“Hey”, the other said after another second of silence. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks”, he smiled. “And thanks... for staying with me.”

Zero turned his head to look at him and patted his thigh. “It’s what we agreed on”, he reminded him softly. Bee nodded harshly, briefly biting down at his lower lip. “Did you have to name them Cabur, though?”, he added with an: _aw, come on!_ , tone.

Bee’s expression suddenly turned to a wide smile and nostalgic eyes, staring out at the sky.

“I know, I know”, he chuckled. “Maybe it was the shock but... I don’t know. It felt appropriate.”

For a moment, a sad silence blanketed them, both staring up at the starry night-sky.

“He loved animals. He would have know what they are”, Bee whispered.

“He would”, Zero nodded in the same tone.

And finally, exhaustion took its toll, and he fell asleep.

 

_Cabur finished up their meal and licked off the blood from their snout, content. They set the bones and leftover skin aside, so the scavengers could get to it without bothering them, and got up to check on their chicks. Charges. They had meant charges._

_The always-alert one was asleep. Good. They couldn’t help but wag their tail happily at that._

_The wounded one was next to him, doing nothing in particular. He made sounds when he realised that Cabur was staring at him, so they went over to check on him. He seemed happy that they had done so, reaching out to stroke their snout. They allowed him to do so, and sniffed him._

_He reeked of sickness._

_A surprised squeal escaped their teeth, pulling back from Bee’s touch. He withdrew his arm._

_“What’s wrong?”, he asked softly._

_Cabur leaned forward, intending to press their nose against his shoulder, but he put his hand in the way and pushed them away:_

_“No, you heard Tip: no liking.”_

_They tried again._

_“Cabur, stop”, he warned them._

_He had rose his voice. Cabur’s eyes flew to Zero’s sleeping figure, and decided to step back, not wanting to risk waking him up. They made another soft caw, making themselves small before turning to the other two._

_They had a pleasant surprise: those two had not only grown a decent claw each other, they had even started a fire on their own! So small and they could already do that!_

_Cabur purred and brushed their head against them, congratulating them. Sal patted them back as they settled down to watch over them. They had cut out little pieces of the prey and were putting them near the flames. Huh. As long as the meat didn’t catch fire..._

_It wasn’t long before it started smelling strongly, and Cabur tilted their head, really tempted to chomp down on it. But they had already had their share: what was left was for the chicks. Tip seemed to notice and threw a piece at their feet._

_“Go on. You can have it.”_

_They stared between the piece of meat and him for a moment before leaning over, sniffing it one last time and gulping it down._

_The taste was disappointing compared to the smell. It was dry. Where had the blood gone?_

_Cabur grunted and shook their head, as if sneezing._

_The two chicks made a happy noise, and Cabur chirped back: they were eating, so they liked their food, yes, good._

_Sal got up and brought some of the cooked meat to Bee and Zero. That also awoke a reaction on them, their tail wagging: they knew how to share, yes, good siblings, they would take care of each other._

_So they had water, they had food, they lacked a nest. But where to? Cabur had been able to smell metal beasts near the plateau, and it wouldn’t be wise to try to retake it with four charges. Here? No, no, that place was too unprotected, all kind of predators could get there with no trouble... The caves at the other side of the gorge? Yes, safe, good idea, and there was an aquifer near!_

_Cabur purred to themselves. Now, if they could only get them to follow them there..._

_Zero was still sleeping and the other chicks didn’t look like they were about to get moving anytime soon. So Cabur curled up and closed their eyes._

 

“Tip!!!”, Zero’s shout startled Cabur awake, who screeched and rolled to their feet, claws digging into the earth. “Something’s wrong with Bee!”

The medic ran over to them from were he had been patrolling. Sal was also waking up, scrambling to get there with the rest of her brothers.

“Kriff”, he breathed, kneeling down next to his brother.

Bee’s skin and short black hair were damp with sweat, his brow furrowed. He was lying on his side, arms crossed and trembling. Tip swiftly undid his bandages, fearing and knowing what he would find.

The area was red with inflammation and sticky with pus, which oozed slowly.

“Get me a clean cloth and wet it on the stream”, he ordered to no-one in particular, checking Bee’s pulse.

Zero got up, tore a sleeve of his blacks and ran off. Sal went to Bee’s other side, resting a hand on his shoulder and trying to rouse him.

“Is it bad?”, she asked, voice small.

“Yes”, Tip answered after a second of silence. “He still has a chance if we can keep the wound clean and get him to drink and eat, but...”

Cabur was looming over them.

“Lead them away, I don’t want them to bring even more bacteria in this”, the medic hissed.

Sal stood up, pressing a hand to Cabur’s nose.

“Come on, fella, we got this. We don’t want to get in Tip’s way, do we?”, she spoke softly, pushing a bit harder.

But Cabur did not budge.

Sal frowned, shifting her stance to push harder.

Cabur stared at her, unmoving.

“Uh, Tip? They don’t want to move”, she spoke nervously, holding their gaze.

Zero returned, handing the cloth to Tip, who began cleaning the infected wound.

“Maybe we can lure them away with something. Is there any raw meat left?”, he asked out loud, looking around.

Small animals had already scavenged Cabur’s meal, leaving only the bones. The only reason they hadn’t got to the cooked meat was because it was packed next to Bee, and they didn’t dare go into the clearing where the mighty beast stood.

“Come on, Cabur”, he tried, patting at one of their rear legs to divert their attention.

They spared him a glance, and huffed, turning around to look at Bee again.

They cawed softly, lurking closer to him with slow steps.

“No no no no no no no!!!”, Sal and Zero echoed, trying to grab at their feathers, their paws, anything to slow them down.

But they were dragged along.

Cabur’s head was right on Bee, now. Tip stopped to look at them, wide-eyed. They huffed at him and pushed slightly against him, gradually stronger so it went through that it was not a request, but an order.

Tip resisted, though. He tried to push back and go around their jaws but Cabur wouldn’t let him.

“Stop it!”, he yelled, frustration and fear building up. “What are you doing?!”

Zero gulped, pulling out his blaster.

“I’m sorry”, he mumbled, taking off the safe.

But before he could do anything, Cabur’s eyes were on him, and suddenly he was pinned under the claws of a rear leg.

“No!”, Sal screamed, went to do the same, and ended up pinned under a front leg.

Tip scrambled backwards in terror.

So this was it. That creature hadn’t been trying to help them, it was just saving them for later. Of course. How could they have been so stupid? This was a wild animal, not a person. They had made the stupidest mistake ever and they were going to pay with a long, awful death for it. Tip didn’t even had his blaster at hand. Idiot, idiot, idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot...!

Cabur’s maws started to open.

“Run, Tip!”, Zero screamed, thrashing under the beast’s claws, “RUN!!!”

But he couldn’t. There was no way he could get up in time, he was frozen by fear and could only watch and oh Force he was about to get eaten—

They cawed, a small, barely there sound, before closing their jaws again and hiding their teeth. Not a growl, not a roar. They didn’t even reach to touch him.

And then they turned to Bee and shifted slightly, putting their weight on the limbs that weren’t holding the clones down, leaned forward, and carefully licked at Bee’s wound. He hissed in pain, curling on himself. Cabur stopped for a moment to caress his head and chest, purring softly, comforting him. When he settled down, they resumed the liking.

Tip gulped down, composing himself. He got up on shaky legs as the adrenaline wore down, still too in shock to process what was happening or what should he be doing.

“What’s going on?”, Sal’s voice asked, trembling. She was crying.

“It’s alright”, the medic finally reacted, “It’s alright, they are just... liking Bee’s wound.”

“Shit, Tip, that’s not good!!!”, Zero kept thrashing. He was crying, too.

The paw holding Sal down was slowly lifted. She was quick to roll out of reach, trying to get her legs under her and panting heavily. She pointed her blaster at Cabur’s head, but they did not react, just went on, movements tender and slow.

So she instead got up and kicked at the leg that was pinning Zero.

“Let him go!”, she shrieked.

Cabur rose their head, letting out something akin at a yelp. They turned to look at her, huffed, and lifted the limb. Sal dragged Zero out from under it.

“You okay?”

“Yeah”, he replied, breathless. “Yeah. Tip?”

“I’m okay.”

“We have to kill it”, Zero breathed out, stumbling as he stood. “We have to...”

Cabur shifted again, walking in circles around Bee before carefully lying down, tucking him against their fluffy belly and covering most of him with a wing. They leaned forward and huffed warm air at him. Bee shifted a bit, reaching for the warmth. Cabur finally rested their head on the ground, letting their breath get to him, and stayed very, very still.

The three clones watched, limbs still trembling.

Zero fell to his knees, the morning sun warming his back. Sal lowered herself next to him, pulling him close.

Tip took a step towards Cabur and Bee.

“What are you doing?”, Sal rasped.

“Checking if we are still friends”, he sighed, taking another step.

Cabur watched him come closer, unmoving. When he got in reach, they rose the wing that was covering Bee.

Tip stood still for a long second.

“Thank you”, he whispered, and crouched down next to his brother. His status hadn’t changed much, but it would do him good to stay somewhere warm, and surely that would help. When he withdrew, Cabur lowered their wing again. “I would leave him there for the moment”, he informed the others. “I’ll check on him every hour. If he hasn’t gotten better by dusk...”

“Alright”, Zero said so he didn’t have to end that sentence. He and Sal seemed more composed now. “What do we do about Cabur?”

“It attacked us”, Sal nodded.

“No, they did not”, Tip shook his head, lowering himself down for a minute. “They had tried to lick the wound before. But we were getting in the way. Cabur had indulged us at first, but now Bee is clearly ill, and they did what they would have done of they were ill themselves. We can only hope that whatever is in their spit will help.”

 

_Lick the wound again, yes, doesn’t smell like death so much. Gotta be careful with the chicks: they can get sick if they scratch themselves falling off the nest. Keep him warm. Lick again. Yes, chick, it hurts, but it will be okay. Your siblings are here to help too. They know how to transport food and water, clever chicks. Rest._

 

Bee’s fever was dying down. Tip almost fainted in relief, checking for the fifth time before daring to pass the news. Sal cheered, Cabur joining her with a happy caw and a wag of their tail before caressing Bee’s hair again. He woke up a few hours later, and only then, Cabur left him to go drink water and stretch.

“How are you feeling?”, Sal asked him as they watched them go.

“Tired”, he huffed. “But better. Already missing my spot by Cabur’s belly. Damn, if that’s not a deluxe bed I don’t know what it is.”

Sal cackled, a tear of relief escaping her eyes. She dried it quickly.

“Hey. I’m okay”, the other whispered, resting a hand on her shoulder.

She leaned into him, holding him close.

Cabur rose their head abruptly and growled: a deep, long sound that reverberated inside everyone’s skull. They were staring at the treeline, muscles tense and ears shifting slightly. Zero and Sal rose their blasters, standing between them and Tip and Bee. The medic took his blaster, too, but stayed by Bee’s side. Silence overtook the clearing except by the still going growl. It shifted to a snarl as they lowered themselves, ready to spring to action. The clones held their breath, having no idea of what was coming but glad that at least they KNEW that something was coming.

And then they saw it: several rows into the forest, a snake alike head, bobbing slightly with its jaws wide open, revealing four gargantuan fangs, green scales making it almost invisible among the vegetation. It hissed, waving its way forward, towards the clearing where they were.

It shot forward, slithering through the ground at an astonishing speed for its size. Cabur snarled and jumped forward straight towards it. Before they could collide, Cabur sprang on their front legs, successfully dodging a bite. The snake’s mandibles snapped close loudly when they found nothing to sink into. It shrieked in anger, already angling itself to follow the winged creature. Cabur breathed out fire on it, the other being swallowed by the flames.

The clones lowered their blasters, but Cabur did not relax. They jumped back, screeching back at the snake as it rose above the fire, ready to dive. Cabur did not have time to react, they angled their teeth up above, and the two beasts finally clashed.

They rolled on the ground as their mandibles snapped close and open, trying to deliver a fatal bite at the other’s throat. Cabur stretched their wings just in time to realise that the snake had been getting ready to squeeze them, and put their efforts on getting rid of it, wildly clawing at its body while fighting to avoid being bitten.

The clones were watching in terrified awe, blasters tracking the snake’s movements across the clearing but otherwise unmoving.

“We have to do something!”, Sal said.

“Do not shoot!”, Tip yelled at her, “If you attract that thing’s attention and it comes for us I’ll kill you!!!”

Cabur’s pained roar drowned their conversation: the snake had managed to bite down at their wing.

Before he could think, Zero was shooting.

The snake turned to him and hissed angrily, staying still for a moment as it registered their vulnerability. Its body waved, ready to dive for them—

Cabur kicked at their neck and close their claws around it. The beast twisted, but could not turn its head enough to bite them. And then Cabur was airborne, wings flapping in synchrony to gain as much altitude as possible as the snake tried to bend its body to strangle them. And they went up, and up, and up, a tangle of sharp teeth and scales and feathers and shrieks.

And then they dropped.

The ground shook as the two beasts hit the floor, and the world stilled.

“Cabur...?”, Bee’s fearful voice called out.

The snake convulsed, and Cabur weaselled their way out from its grasp, not sparing a second before lurching for its neck and snapping it loudly.

As soon as it had started, it had ended.

Cabur dropped next to the corpse, twisting to lick at their wounded wing.

Sal trotted up to them, followed by Tip.

“You okay there, big fella?”, Sal asked softly, resting a hand among their feathers.

They huffed softly at her, rubbing their head against her before getting back to work.

“It’s dead”, Zero confirmed, relaxing slightly. “It’s dead!”, he callout out for Tip and Bee.

In the distance, Bee was nudging the medic into let him go with them. He budged, and both of them made their way over, Tip walking right beside his brother in case he had to catch him.

“Are they okay?”, Bee asked, still a few meters away.

Cabur cawed absentmindedly, focused on their task. The blood flow was stopping just fine, but the snake’s fangs had been long and sharp, so it would probably sting for some time. Nothing felt too wrong, though.

It occurred to them that one of the chicks deserved congratulations. Cabur leaned over Zero and purred against his chest, wagging their tail:

_Good chick! Good fire!_

“Aw, Zero is the new favourite!”, Tip cooed.

“No! No way! I forever will be Cabur’s favourite”, Bee denied straight away. “Am I right?”

He stretched out a hand. They licked it briefly before returning to pampering Zero. He allowed them to do so, but eventually stepped away.

“Yeah, yeah, thanks to you too for saving our asses”, he chuckled lightly.

“Will they be able to fly?”, Sal asked with worry.

Tip was examining the injured wing from the distance, not daring to touch it. “I can’t know for sure. They don’t look in too much pain.”

Surely enough, Cabur didn’t seem to be in agony. A part from the slightly limp limb, they were as attentive as ever.

“Wouldn’t be expecting for them to bring us dinner again, though.”

“Not that we need it. We have enough in storage for a few days”, Zero shrugged.

“Enough for us. But not for them”, Sal pointed out.

A shocked silence blanketed them. That meant that if Cabur couldn’t hunt, somebody would have to hunt for them. But hunt what? They didn’t know which animals were too dangerous to face. What if they hunted down something poisonous and it killed Cabur when they ate it? Could Cabur hold on a few days with only water if it was necessary? How were they gonna...?

Cabur got up and stretched out slowly, the injured wing the solely exception. They yawned before rubbing their head against every one of them, and walked over to a side of the clearing.

They stomped at the earth, staring at them.

“They want us to follow them.”

“Yeah, I see that.”

“Should we pack up, then?”, Tip asked.

“We don’t know how far they want to take us”, Zero mused.

“Guys, that’s the opposite direction to the drop point”, Sal said.

“Not to be the madman that would follow a predator no matter what, but since they are keeping us safe and all... I would follow the predator”, Bee piped up.

Everybody turned to look at him.

“What?”

“Oh, I don’t know: don’t you wanna be close to the drop point so we can get out of here?”, Tip mocked.

“Maybe I don’t wanna get out of here”, he bit back, and silence fell over them again.

He looked away.

“I say we follow Cabur”, he continued before anyone else could think of something to say.

Zero sighed.

“Alright. Opinions?”, he asked, turning to the other two.

“Truth is, Cabur is a very good early warning system. I wouldn’t mind being near them for as long as possible”, Tip admitted.

“Tip’s right, but still...”, Sal shrugged, “Do we follow Cabur to Force-knows-where? Or do we stick around this zone, and hope that they won’t leave or that the droids won’t get to us?”

They all turned to Zero. Cabur cawed impatiently.

“...Let’s follow Cabur. We’ll see where they are taking us. If it’s too far, we’ll turn around.”

 

They were soon on the move. Cabur had nuzzled them when they had finally packed their things and walked to them. Now, they walked through the vegetation: Cabur leading the way, with Bee and Tip right beside them, and Sal and Zero covering the rear and flanks.

Cabur’s ears flickered, noticing a harsh breathing. They slowed down, ducking their head to poke at Bee.

“I’m fine”, he was quick to reassure them, but he was struggling to keep pace with the beast’s long strides.

They huffed at him and lied down right next to him, pressing him against their body with their nose and wiggling their way under him, pulling him up.

“Woah, woah, woah!”, Bee clung to their feathers as he was lifted, and suddenly he was sitting on Cabur’s back, his legs dangling in front of their wings.

Cabur squawked an got up, resuming their pace.

It took a moment for him to process what had just happened, and then he turned to his bothers and sister. They could not see his face through the helmet, but he was radiating excitement.

“I told you I was the favourite one!!!!”, he finally spoke.

“No fair!”, Sal cried out, “I want to be spoiled, too!”

And she ran to them and clutched at Cabur’s leg, making her way up. Cabur screeched in surprise, and actually stopped and shook their leg. Sal ended up on the floor, ready to accept that she wasn’t getting a ride when they offered her a front leg to climb on.

“You were too near to their wound”, Tip said, passing her.

Zero did not comment, just sighed tiredly as Sal climbed up behind Bee. Cabur paused and glanced at him.

“No, I don’t need a ride, thanks”, he dismissed, and kept on walking.

Cabur made a succession of sounds they had never made before.

Like a chuckle.

 

_Good chicks. Stay comfortable, behave. We’re going home. Love you._

 

They crossed the gorge, climbed up the rocky terrain and settled down on a cave. They discovered Cabur could not only fly, but also gallop, as they ran off to collect plants and branches to nest. They came back with preys, and abandoned the skies until their wing was healed.

Weeks went by. No Republic ship came back.

Eventually, the clones abandoned their blacks, but kept their white armour. Cabur used to lick them clean and was specially chirpy when they wore it. They learned together about the flora and fauna of the place, and Zero got to relax, knowing that they had each other’s backs. Tip transmitted all of his medical knowledge, Bee’s wound healed, and Sal got to be pampered by Cabur. In time, they went off to explore on their own. Cabur accompanied them at the beginning, and later trusted enough in their capabilities to leave them on their own.

The clones encountered a human settlement, many, many clicks away from their nest, and with some time and trust-building, they befriended the people there.

“That’s a wyrm; if you see one, run for your life”, the teacher of the town showed them a drawing, and they recognised the snake-alike creature that had attacked them long ago.

They nodded and hummed. Sal stretched a hand to turn the page, and a very familiar shape greeted them.

“What is that?”, Zero asked, eyes bright and excitement in his voice.

“That, is a dragon.”

**Author's Note:**

> Cabur: protector, guardian in mando'a


End file.
